Who’s Watching the Office

One of the shops I worked for had a number of different secretaries over the years.  One of the partners had been a patrolman.  Both the ex-patrolman and his partner were good people to work for.  The patrolman would tell interesting stories of his highway experiences.  He would tell stories of being a sheriff, a patrolman, and an FBI agent.  One story was about watching the burning of old currency.

Both of the owners were quite lenient about coffee break time.  For instance one time two of us went into our favorite coffee shop.  The other two electricians were already there.  About the time we were done with our coffee break, the two partners walked in.  While the two of them walked over to us the secretary of the moment came in behind them.  (The coffee shop was only a half a block from the office.)  The ex-police officer turned to his partner and asked; “I wonder who’s watching the office.”

The boss replied; “We better get back there.”

The ex-patrolman once told us the story of a time he was on Montana State Highway 24, on the way to Fort Peck.  It was a two lane road.  As he came up over one of the hills he saw that both lanes were blocked.

Two cars headed in opposite directions were stopped beside each other.  They had their drivers’ doors open and the two drivers were sitting on their running boards (yes, they had them in those days).  They were each having a cool one while visiting with one another.

It turns out they were both from Canada and had noticed each other’s license plate as they met on the road.  They had both stopped, positioned their cars next to one another on the road, and began to visit.

The patrolman pulled up behind one of them and then gently suggested that they should go somewhere else to visit.

Those were gentler times.

Winter Weather Work

If you’re from the Hi-Line area of North Dakota, Montana, Northern Idaho, and Northeastern Washington, you know that you can get some pretty extreme winter weather.  Extreme weather is pretty common in North Dakota and Montana, but Northeastern Washington can, and has, set some weather records.

I remember one winter in North Dakota we had a lot of snow and hard winds.  It blocked the railroad track.  We had no mail for a week.  Even with big rotary plows it took a week to clear the railroad tracks for about 100 miles.  In my eighty some years, it was the worst storm I have ever seen.

In Montana we lived and worked along the Hi-line.  The Hi-line is an area along Highway two that runs parallel to the Canadian border.  One job we did in the winter there involved wiring a new motel.  The weather turned cold – about 20 below zero.  No windows or doors had been installed and, of course, there was no heat.  It didn’t stop us.  You learn to adapt to the weather.

Contrary to expectations, many people along the Hi-line would go to Canada for vacations.  One winter I was working for a small shop with three electricians, including me.  One weekend the other two decided they were going to Canada for the weekend.  They didn’t return on Monday.

They called the boss and said they couldn’t get out because of the snow.  I was running crazy trying to keep up with the work by myself.  Every day the boss would get a call from them saying they were still snowed in.  Finally they showed up on Friday.  Everyone worked hard for a week to catch up.

Finally I had the opportunity to talk to one of the guys, and I inquired if there had been a hard storm up there.  I asked; “Did they have to get out the big plows?”

“No” he replied.  “Not that bad.  But across the front of the bar door there was a drift about 18 inches deep and we just couldn’t seem to get through it.”